Welcome to Cali!
Cali is a city in southwestern Colombia, capital of the Valle del Cauca department. It has about 2 million inhabitants and is a significant industrial and commercial center.
Santiago de Cali, or Cali, is the capital of the Valle del Cauca department, and the most populous city in southwest Colombia, with 2,227,642 residents according to the 2018 census. The city spans 560.3 km2 (216.3 sq mi) with 120.9 km2 (46.7 sq mi) of urban area, making Cali the second-largest city in the country by area and the third most populous after Bogotá and Medellín. As the only major Colombian city with access to the Pacific Coast, Cali is the main urban and economic center in the south of the country, and has one of Colombia's fastest-growing economies. The city was founded on 25 July 1536 by the Spanish explorer Sebastián de Belalcázar.
Cali is also a center for sports in Colombia, and was the first and only Colombian city to have hosted the Pan American Games for 56 years until Barranquilla was chosen to host the Pan American Games in 2027. Cali hosted the 1992 World Wrestling Championships, the ninth edition of the World Games in 2013, the UCI Track Cycling World Championships in 2014 and the World Youth Championships in Athletics in 2015. The city hosted the first ever Junior Pan American Games in 2021.